


I'm Here For You

by Inofaro



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Childhood Abuse, Childhood Trauma, Domestic Fluff, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Fluff, Healing, Hurt/Comfort, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2018-06-24
Packaged: 2019-05-27 14:27:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,265
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15026645
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Inofaro/pseuds/Inofaro
Summary: In the weeks after the Dursleys reconnect with him, apologize, and ask for forgiveness, Harry, rather than healing, slowly comes apart. Luckily, Draco is there to pick up the pieces.





	I'm Here For You

The Floo fires up as Draco Malfoy is climbing into bed, reading spectacles on and book in hand. He makes no move to leave his now darkened bedroom to greet the visitor, but rather tucks himself comfortably under the sheets and cracks open  _ The Evolution of the Antipodean Opaleye; A Closer Look Into Isolation’s Effect on Dragon Species,  _ a souvenir from Charlie Weasley from his recent visit to New Zealand. 

He’s reached page five of the introduction when he hears a familiar footfall in the stairwell - heavy and a bit slow.  _ Probably worn out from the stakeout, the poor thing,  _ Draco thinks to himself while turning the page, schooling his expression into one of nonchalance as the visitor nears the closed bedroom door. 

The doorknob turns and the hinges creak. Harry Potter is standing in the doorway when Draco looks up. 

“Good evening.”

Harry does not respond. After a moment of just standing there in silence, he sinks to his knees and then proceeds to lay face first on the ground, glasses set to the side.

Draco drops the facade immediately and climbs out of bed, utterly forgetting to save his place as he tosses the volume aside. “Harry?”

As Draco approaches his boyfriend and joins him on the floor, the latter suddenly begins to cry - all shaking shoulders and shuddering gasps. Draco tentatively places a hand on his back, right between his shoulder blades, and asks, “Harry? What’s wrong?”

Harry begins to cry even harder without giving Draco a coherent answer. He flounders a little bit; he’s never, in the four years of dating him, seen him in such a state before. Harry’s cried in the past, sure, but rarely and only a few tears at a time when he does. Draco even teases him for being ‘an emotionally constipated prat’ from time to time.

This is different. This - Harry Potter face down on the floor, body racked with sobs - is heartbreaking. 

“Honey?” Draco uses Harry’s favorite pet name. “I’m here for you, okay?”

More crying. It sounds like he’s choking on his own tears. Draco begins to rub his back in a hopefully soothing way.

“I love you.” With more intensity: “I  _ love  _ you, Harry.”

Harry rolls over on his side to look at Draco, eyes red and nose all drippy. “I lo-love you t-too,” he tells him in between sobs. Draco lays down beside him and tries to wipe his face dry, but fails. There are so many tears rolling down Harry’s face that it’s shiny with all the moisture.

They stay like that for a long time - laying face to face on the floor with Harry still crying and Draco gently stroking his cheek and fingering the soft curls at the nape of his neck. The house is quiet save for Harry’s sobs and the only light touching them is a soft yellow glow from Draco’s bedside lamp, which casts shadows across Harry’s face and highlights how gaunt he’s gotten in the past few weeks. Draco makes a mental note to cook more nutritiously from here on out - no more takeout and no more Muggle microwavables. 

“I-I’m sorry,” Harry manages to choke out.

“Don’t be. I’m here for you.”

A few more tears slip across the bridge of his nose and burrow into his dark hair. “I’ve been o-okay the past few da-days b-but today I kept on th-thinking about it. C-couldn’t stop.”

Rubbing his thumb over Harry’s smooth cheekbone, Draco makes a noise of encouragement.

“I’ve l-lost so-o m-much,” he gasps as the tears come full force again. Draco almost can’t bear to look at him like this, face red and desperately twisted in pain. “The-they took e-everything from m-me. L-love. Happiness. My _ Ch-ildhood. _ ” His voice cracks a little bit at the end.

There is nothing Draco can say that can make Harry’s childhood abuse go away, he knows this, so he settles with, “I know. I’m so sorry.”

“A-and they want  _ forgiveness? _ ” Harry seethes, hands forming into fists. Draco’s heart breaks on his boyfriend’s behalf. He can’t imagine what it’s like - having your abusers come to you after all this time to ask for forgiveness when they’ve done nothing to earn it - but he tries, anyways.

Suddenly, Harry’s anger leaves just as quickly as it came; the tense cords in his arms and neck relax and his pinched face crumbles back into grief. “I w-was a ch-ch- _ child _ ,” he whimpers.

Draco’s eyes begin to feel extremely hot and wet. “May I hug you?”

Harry jerks his head in a half nod and Draco wastes no time in pulling him close and pressing a kiss on his nose, his cheek, his jaw. “I’m here. I love you,” he whispers right into Harry’s ear, making him shiver in his arms.

“How c-could they do th-that to me? Th-their o-own ne-nephew-!” His tears soak through Draco’s nightshirt and feel hot on his skin. 

“I’m so sorry.” Draco closes his eyes and traces patterns on Harry’s back. “You deserved better. So much better.”

No immediate reply, only steady crying, so Draco continues.

“You deserved love and a happy upbringing. I’m so, so sorry you didn’t get that.”

Harry shakes harder in Draco’s arms.

“It’s okay to cry. To grieve.”

“B-but I’ve al-already gr-grieved e-enough…”

He has, so much. He’s grieved for all his life, in fact. They’ve talked through this before on multiple occasions. They’ve laid in bed and discussed Harry’s trauma and its lasting effects on him into adulthood and what it means for their relationship. Harry’s only cried during a few of their therapy sessions - often he’d even make jokes about the most wretched of his childhood memories - but Draco’s always suspected that he hasn’t worked through as much pain as he claims he has. Now, his suspicions are confirmed.

Harry clutches the back of Draco’s shirt with renewed vigor. “Merlin…” A new wave of fat tears stream down his face and onto the carpet. “It hurts. S-so much.”

As he probably can’t speak a single word without bursting into tears himself, Draco opts to just wordlessly hold Harry tighter.

An hour or so passes like that; gradually, Harry tires himself out and cries himself to sleep in Draco’s arms. For several minutes Draco allows them to lay on the floor like that and stares at the wall, syncing up his breaths with Harry’s. He almost can’t bear to move him, but knows that he must so they can both get a comfortable night’s sleep - Harry especially deserves that, at least. 

Carefully, he half-carries, half-levitates Harry into bed and makes sure to tuck him properly under the covers before sliding in himself and extinguishing the lamp. The absence of Harry’s sobs is deafening for Draco. 

Even in sleep, Harry looks tortured. Draco wonders how much time must pass before the crease between his eyebrows smooths out. He wonders how many more nights Harry must suffer like this. He wonders how he can possibly help him get through in one piece. 

_ Just being here is enough,  _ he suddenly recalls Harry telling him once, after he’d asked what he could do to ease his pain. At first he doubted how effective that would be - it seemed too simple and Draco couldn’t help but think that he could do more - but Harry never asked for anything else and seemed perfectly content with just leaning his head on Draco’s shoulder or cuddling in bed for hours.

“I’m here,” Draco whispers into the dark. “I will always be here.”

He places a hand on Harry’s chest and slowly falls asleep to the tune of his heartbeat.

**Author's Note:**

> This is un-beta'd and I wrote it instead of studying for my chem final b/c I've been going thru some terrible times recently and needed to get my feelings out


End file.
